King of German Mercenaries

At the end of February 1495, news came from Vienna that the emperor finally decided to expand his army again...

At this time, the French King Charles VIII had led a coalition of 60,000 people from France and Savoy to the Kingdom of Naples, and halfway, the troops of other Italian city-states were pushed horizontally by them. Even the Papal State was crushed by Charles VIII. Charles VIII marched into Rome with an army, and forced the Pope to crown him king of Naples.

The terrible power of Charles VIII to push the Apennine peninsula, let the countries in the Italian region feel fear. As a result, under the leadership of the most powerful Venice and the most prestigious Papal State among the states, the Italian countries decided to establish a "Holy Alliance" to jointly fight against the French who coveted Italian territory.

The Holy Roman Empire, as the mortal enemy of the powerful faction and the French, was naturally invited. You must know that the Principality of Burgundy was huge at the time. In addition to the current Counties of Burgundy (Franche-Comté region), there were also the Principality of Burgundy (later French Burgundy Region), and the Netherlands. .

However, after the death of the daring Charles, the French took advantage of the internal chaos of Burgundy and cut off the large Duchy of Burgundy (Burgundy Region), making Maximilian I, who inherited the inheritance of his father-in-law, Only the smaller counties of Burgundy (Franche-Comté) and the Netherlands were obtained.

Therefore, Maximilian I and the French have a hatred for snatch territory. Therefore, without the Holy Alliance, Maximilian I will actively prepare for war. Of course, he also pretended that he did not want to get involved in Italian affairs. In fact, he was posing for the benefit of the Venetians.

As we all know, in the current Europe, the Republic of Venice is estimated to be the country with the best financial situation. Although Venice is small, it is extremely developed in commerce. This year, the Ottoman Empire has just begun to rise, and has not yet competed with Venice for hegemony in the Mediterranean. While new routes were still being opened up, the Portuguese had not yet arrived in India and had not yet been able to challenge Venice's maritime trade status. So, Venice is still in a strong stage. Powerful Venice, with more than 3,000 galleys and 36,000 sailors.

Although it is said that the total population of Venice is less than 200,000. But the Venetians are rich. In this era, if you have money, you can hire a lot of mercenaries to work for you. Therefore, rich Venice has great potential for war. Even Austria, a strong neighbor on the side, did not dare to think about Venice.

The country of Venice is so small, but financially excellent. Little Venice, the annual financial income is as high as 2 million Ducat gold coins. In France during the same period, there were only about 1.2 million.

However, Venice is just a small city-state with a population of less than 200,000. France, on the other hand, is a big European country with a population of 15 million…

Of course, in this era, the Netherlands has not yet risen, and Spain and Portugal are still exploring the sea. So, no country in Europe can compete with Venice financially.

Although France's fiscal revenue can't catch up with Venice, it is stronger than Britain and better than Shinra. why? Because France established a permanent taxing power under Charles VII, taxing was permanent throughout the country (however, this excluded the fiefs of those vassals, so this could not be regarded as a universal taxation system). This makes France's financial situation among the best in Europe, otherwise, the French would not be able to dispatch tens of thousands of troops to invade Italy.

Britain is also better, Henry VII also began to imitate France to centralize power, but has not implemented a fixed tax system like France. Therefore, the UK's finances are far less than that of France, but there are also 120,000 pounds per year, equivalent to 480,000 ducats.

The Holy Roman Empire looks quite big, but the emperor has no permanent taxation power at all, and can only collect taxes in Austria and Burgundy. Among them, taxation in Burgundy is still very difficult. Therefore, the financial level of the huge Holy Roman Empire is now slightly better than that of Britain, which has not yet stabilized, and much worse than that of France.

If it weren't for the fact that during the war, the emperor could still ask the imperial parliament for help and impose a war tax on the entire empire, the Holy Roman Empire would not have the strength to compete with France for hegemony.

Therefore, in this period of Europe, in terms of financial resources, Venice is the well-deserved boss. The Holy Roman Empire is just that there are many younger brothers of the emperor, which is more bluffing.

Therefore, facing Venice, the emperor also used his crooked brains, and wanted Venice to help with some military expenses...

Venice is naturally rich, and they can also hire mercenaries from various Italian states. However, the Italian mercenaries were no match for the Germans. Because Italians advocate business and are busy doing business. Or, fascinated by literature and art, busy picking up girls. And the German region, still more martial. The Swiss Alliance, which is rich in mercenaries, is also considered to be in the German region.

Therefore, the combat literacy of the Shinra army is higher than that of the Italian mercenaries. That's why Venice wants to win over Shinra. Otherwise, if the Italian mercenaries were strong, Venice would have dominated the Continent long ago.

For the emperor's intentions, the Venetian messenger is naturally clear. But the Venetians didn't care too much either. Because, compared to Emperor Shinra, the poor ghost, they were more afraid of the rich and powerful France.

Therefore, the messenger promised that as long as the Shinra Empire gathered its troops and drove to Italy, Venice would provide some subsidies to satisfy the emperor. The reason for this was because he was afraid that the emperor would take the money and not work. When the emperor assembled his army and entered Italy, he would not fight for nothing.

It just so happened that the taxation from Burgundy had also arrived. Although the Imperial Parliament had not let go, the money from Burgundy could also make the emperor feel much better. Anyway, when he arrived in Italy, Venice also agreed to pay some of the money. If you win, there will be war bonuses.

The emperor with money naturally trembled. Then, the second batch of recruitment notices was also sent to various places. The second round of recruitment has officially begun...

After getting the news, Marin quickly pulled out the camp and loaded the supplies into the ox cart. And all the soldiers, all on foot, went to Vienna. After Marin's abuse for more than a month, these mercenaries have absolutely no pressure on the march.

You know, every day, Marin forced them to carry backpacks "designed" by Marin, armed with spears, and armed for 5 kilometers off-road. To start, just do a 5k every morning. In the later stage, it is already 5 kilometers in the morning and evening.

You know, these days, there are no cars, and the infantry must go on their own. Even horses are expensive supplies. Also, horses eat more than people. If it is not in a hurry, the general officer will not let the soldiers ride horses. Unless, is engaged in cavalry.

Therefore, when the infantry marches, it is completely walking. Fortunately, this era was the Middle Ages, and these poor mercenaries were also used to walking. Wherever they go, if they are not particularly far away, they basically walk by themselves. It is normal to walk dozens of miles a day. Unlike modern people, who are used to riding a car, it is unlikely that he would be happy to let him walk 5 kilometers.

Under Marin's high-intensity training, everyone now feels no pressure on long-distance marches. Each of them, carrying a linen backpack with their belongings, holding a spear, lined up in a neat line, silently walking on the road to Vienna, no one talked or laughed. Because before, some of them were talking and laughing while marching, and then they were suppressed by whips and sticks... Therefore, everyone formed the habit of marching quietly. Moreover, they are also used to obeying Marin's orders. After more than a month of training, this has become everyone's instinctive reaction...

Marin took everyone on the march. It took him a day to march 50 kilometers and finally arrived outside Vienna. Then, Marin noticed that everyone was a little tired. After all, the longest march before was only 20 kilometers. 50 kilometers, although we can run, but everyone is tired. In this era, the average infantry team can travel 30 kilometers a day, even if it is not bad. Marin led the team to travel 50 kilometers a day, which made everyone a little tired. But he knows that this is not the limit, to know that the Red Army Tuba Road is much more perverted than this. However, it was the first time for everyone to run so far a day, and they were not used to it. You know, the physical training Marin gave these people was very abnormal.

In order to save physical energy and show a better state in tomorrow's selection, Marin asked everyone to set up camp outside the city to recharge and prepare for tomorrow's selection. And Sauer, who was on horseback, was sent to inquire about the recruiting site of the infantry because of his low physical energy consumption. Of course, he went to find out on foot. After all, he's not tired, but the horse he rides is tired...

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